Coffee and Lotus Speculoos Biscuit Ice Cream

Now everyone knows that these little morsels of spiced caramel biscuits go with coffee like a match made in heaven - a gazillion coffee houses can't be wrong.

I always used to come home from holidays to France armed with a case full of these biscuits, but now thankfully you can buy them in the supermarkets in the UK.  Even better than that, you can now buy Lotus biscuit spread!!!  I discovered this awesomeness last year, but other than spreading it obscenely thickly on toasted crumpets, I haven't been sure what to do with it.

With the recent heatwave, the ice cream machine's been out on the worktop, so I thought...why not?

You don't need a machine to make it, you can do it the traditional way freezing it in a tub and breaking up the ice crystals with a fork.

This makes the most incredibly moreish ice cream, perfect as an indulgent after dinner treat, or to replace your afternoon cuppa on a sweltering day.

Ingredients:

2 yolks from free range eggs

50g caster sugar

1/4 pint double cream

1/4 pint milk

2 heaped tablespoons Lotus biscuit spread

1/2 cup strong black coffee (I use good quality instant de-caff)

5 or 6 Lotus biscuits crushed

Method:

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until thick.

Heat the milk and cream together in a pan, until just below boiling point.

Pour over your egg and sugar mix, whisking all the while, then return the custard to the pan and heat on low flame, still whisking until it thickens - it will take around 8-10 minutes.

Once your custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and plunge the pan into a bowl of ice cold water to prevent it cooking further.  Stir in the Lotus spread and mix thoroughly until it's melted through into the mixture.  Stir in the coffee and leave to cool.

Once cool, pour into your ice cream maker, adding the biscuit crumbs about halfway through the freezing time.

If you don't have a machine, pour into a lidded container and freeze for one hour.  Remove and break up the ice crystals with a fork or whisk, return to the freezer and repeat two more times.  Add the biscuit pieces in on the final time.